Interview With an Author: Diane Da Costa Talks Highly Textured Hair

Recently, Ms. Da Costa and I had a lovely chat about caring for highly textured hair, her new salon, and her signature styling techniques. Take a look!

Adrienne: How long have you been in the hair care industry?

Diane: It’s been over 23 years…I believe i’m going on 25 years next year.

Adrienne: When did your love for highly textured hair begin?

Diane: Actually, I’ve been doing highly textured hair all my life, from the time I was in middle school I guess. My sisters and I all have textured hair, but all different curl patterns from spiral to wavy to curly, so I’ve been playing with texture all my life. And it was a natural progression when I started my career in cosmetology. Natural hairstyling was really big starting in 1988 and on, so I began styling during this period, even though I started out with perfecting relaxing, coloring, precision cutting and Marcel irons.

Adrienne: What are a few “best practices” to obtain healthy highly textured hair?

Diane: Best practices for highly textured hair, is to make steam conditioning treatments your best friend. A cocktail of hydrating conditioners with essential oils are great treatments for weekly use. And trimming natural hair every 2 to 3 months will held avoid split ends and breakage from combing or non-detangling curly hair.

Adrienne: What inspired you to write TEXTURED TRESSES?

Diane:Well, I was in the business for over 10 years, when I came up with the idea. I always keep a journal and one day I was looking through it for my wish list of things I would like to accomplish..There it was..write a book. At the time I was the hair editor of Honey Magazine and my editor I might pitch a hair magazine to the publisher. But I had another idea, a book. With the techniques I developed to that date and all the celebs I had styled, I felt it was time to share my skills with consumers and stylist.

Diane: I studied with the school of Vidal Sassoon. that’s Perfection with angels and geometric shapes..But I also studied with Jingles and Tony & Guys and Aveda Techniques. Working with curly textures allows you to precision cuts but to cut into curls creating perfectly- imperfect cuts.

Adrienne: What can customers of SimpleeBEAUTIFUL expect when visiting your salon?

Diane:Great customer service, pampering, a great social experience and the best curly textured styling, education and advice you can receive. clients will Look. Feel & Be SimpleeBEAUTIFUL when the visit and leave.

Adrienne: If you could only give one tip for curly textured hair what would it be?

Diane:Always cleanse the hair at least once a week and use the conditioning rinse in-between shampoos, but please do shampoo. Also moisture and use essential oils, lightly as to not build up. Textured hair can be drying, so don’t be fooled by claims that you don’t need product in your hair. You just need products without petroleum, mineral oil and lanolin…use sulfate free products and you’ll be just fine with the cleansing. If the scalp itches, it means the scalp must be cleansed!! Condition, Condition, Condition with hydrating and nourishing products…No protein for texture, only cocktails with hydration, protein and essential oils.